In the prior art housing materials for light-emitting diodes are known which are based, for example, on white, thermoplastic polymers such as, for instance, polyamides which are stable at high temperatures. However, it has been shown that these materials can have a tendency towards yellowing at elevated temperatures and under the effect in particular of blue light. Such ageing behavior can reduce, for example, the light intensity of a light-emitting diode by a reduced reflection capacity of the housing.
Although thermoplastics with improved ageing behavior are known, for example, liquid crystal polymers (LCP) or polyetheretherketones (PEEK). These materials do have a lower reflectivity, whereby light loss owing to reduced radiating intensity needs to be taken into account.
Furthermore, white silicones are also known which, however have mechanical weaknesses, in particular brittleness, and are very expensive.